Saint Bienheuré is a semi-legendary saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 of Vendôme

Vendôme

Vendôme is a commune in the Centre region of France.-Administration:Vendôme is the capital of the arrondissement of Vendôme in the Loir-et-Cher department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It has a tribunal of first instance.-Geography:...

. Tradition states that he lived in a cave

Cave

A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...

 near the town. Like Saint George

Saint George

Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

, he is said to have fought a dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

. His legend was conflated with that of Beatus of Lungern

Beatus of Lungern

Beatus of Lungern, known also by the honorific Apostle of Switzerland or as Beatus of Beatenberg or Beatus of Thun, was a probably legendary monk and hermit of early Christianity, and is revered as a saint...

.

Legend

The legend states that Bienheuré fasted

Fasting

Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...

 and prayed before fighting the dragon. According to the legend, the dragon was so large that when it went to drink from a river at some distance away, its tail still lay in its cave. It was also so large that it drained the Loir

Loir

The Loir is a river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe River. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir département, north of Illiers-Combray...

 when it drank from it. There are three versions of this combat: the first states that the dragon fled at the sight of Saint Bienheuré; the second version states that Saint Bienheuré defeated the dragon with one blow from his staff; the third states that the dragon strangled itself with its chain.

Historicity

Bienheuré is identified with a missionary who traveled and preached in, besides Vendôme, Garonne

Garonne

The Garonne is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of .-Source:The Garonne's headwaters are to be found in the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees, though three different locations have been proposed as the true source: the Uelh deth Garona at Plan de Beret , the Ratera-Saboredo...

, Laon

Laon

Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...

, and Nantes

Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

. His place of death is considered to have been Chevresson, near Laon.

Veneration

A chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

dating from the fifth century was built on the hillside where he is said to have lived.

L'Association du Faubourg Saint Bienheuré organizes an annual festival in honor of the saint on the second Sunday of May.

Further reading

• Jean-Jacques Loisel, Dans les pas de saint Bienheuré de Vendôme, Sté Sc et Lettres L & C (Blois), 1999, pp. 59–87.

External links

L'Association du Faubourg Saint Bienheuré La Légende de Saint Bienheuré Dragons La Légende de Saint Bienheuré